Archive for October, 2012

“By becoming ISO 27001 certified does that automatically mean we comply with HIPAA and HITECH requirements? Are there any requirements of HIPAA/HITECH that are not required to meet ISO 27001 standards?”

This is not the first time I’ve gotten this question, and others similar. As new technology businesses, cloud services and other businesses are popping up to provide services to large regulated organizations, start-ups are increasingly looking for a way to differentiate themselves from their competitors, and also prove that they have not only effective security controls in place, but that they also (more…)

Last week one of my Facebook friends started a “friends only” discussion on his wall. It was a very interesting discussion, and one of his friends took the discussion, pretty much verbatim, and posted within a “public” (as in meant for the world to see) popular blog site. So the information on the Facebook page, where around 250 – 300 people could see the posts were now in a location where the bazillion (possibly a bit fewer) blog readers could see all the posts and the full names of those who made them. This is not the first time a situation like this has occurred. A lot of the information posted on people’s social media pages are really tempting to take and use as examples, or for business activities such as for marketing and promotions. However, doing so could get you into some personal and/or legal hot water. As organizations and individuals consider taking information they find on social media sites, they need to consider the reasons why doing so may not be a good idea after all.

Okay, I just finished the 3rd conversation in just the past two weeks alone with an organization that is using Social Security Numbers (SSNs) as their primary form of customer and/or employee identification. I’ve written about this topic numerous times over the past 15 years. Seriously; all businesses out there doing this, please make a plan to stop doing this! Why? Here are three good reasons.(more…)

Cyber bullying is a topic I cover in my Q3 2012 issue of Protecting Information Journal, and my youth reporter for this quarter’s issue, Lexx, wrote about his personal experience with cyber bullying. Typically only my subscribers get to read these great articles, but in honor of Blue Shirt Day™ I want everyone to have a chance to read his article that provides important insights into how so many of our children are dealing with this growing problem. Here it is in its entirety; please provide feedback, not only to me, but also for my talented youth reporter! (more…)